1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method to simulate abrasion in a controlled manner caused by air-borne particulates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior art techniques for testing abrasion resistance, such as the Taber test and the Bayer test, typically use a rubbing or scratching mechanism to test materials for abrasion resistance. Specifically, either an abrasive material is rubbed across the test sample surface, or the test sample is rubbed against an abrasive surface. While these tests do provide valuable data, they do not accurately or reliably predict resistance to impact damage from wind-borne particulate matter. These prior art techniques are typically used to test hard protective coatings to determine their resistance to scratching. However, such protective coatings are prone to shattering upon impact of a fast moving object, such as a grain of sand. Consequently, coatings and materials may pass a prior art abrasion test, e.g. Taber test, but fail rapidly when exposed to an environment wherein there is blowing or airborne particulate. Furthermore, many prior art abrasion testers use a relatively slow time scale damage event that is not representative of the applied stresses and strain rates induced by the impact of windborne or airborne particulates. The timescale of the impact is significantly shorter than the damage from a prior art rubbing-type test which may cause a shift in polymer materials from ductile to brittle failure modes.
What is needed is an apparatus and method to accurately and reliably test the abrasion resistance of a material to impact damage from wind-borne or airborne particulate matter.